


Lavender

by persistent_pedantry



Series: The Escapades of Minerva and R [18]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:01:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22989787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/persistent_pedantry/pseuds/persistent_pedantry
Summary: Following a tip-off, René and Minerva travel to the Kanto region in search of a supernatural presence.
Series: The Escapades of Minerva and R [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1483421





	Lavender

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work I'm still quite proud of, though I never got around to writing Chapter 2 for Hallowe'en 2019. I'm sure I'll get around to it at some point.

_I was covered in blood. I don’t know if it was my blood, or its, but my survival instincts long since reached their peak. I was in a stone room. Its flesh was rotting but it moved with ease, great white hands lashing out at me, smacking me down whenever I tried to attack. It had Pokémon, but I beat them; it was fighting me itself — and I was losing. I dashed in but a hand grabbed my leg, slamming it down to meet the stone. It didn’t look right. I couldn’t move it._

_The thing looked at me. It had a human, rotting face. It’s whole body had dirt and dried blood over it; it looked like a corpse, but it didn’t have any wounds. The blood was all over its face. "_ _Finally...” it wheezed, panting as the hand gripped my arm, threatening to break it. “Fresh meat.”_

_I had to look away. I screamed as I felt a wet, ripping pain. I felt dirty, rotted teeth against my— going through my flesh. I could barely scream; the futility of no-one hearing me had my terror dying in my throat. Darkness took up my vision. I didn’t know if I was dying or blacking out. I could feel a clammy hand on my chest, shallow breath over my throat—_

“ _DOUX ARCEUS!_ ” Minerva screamed, bolting up in bed.

Soon following, René yelled out in shock, falling out of his own single bed. “Minerva!” He shouts, looking at her in a mix of concern, anger, and total bewilderment. “ _Ç’est quoi ce bordel!_ ”

“ _Ces putain de cauchemars!_ ” She snapped, gripping her head in anger. For two weeks prior, Minerva had been suffering with vivid nightmares, sometimes so far as night terrors. While these were somewhat commonplace for her, they usually only occurred once every few weeks or so. She had nine in the past fortnight. They were always of similar things, as far as she can remember: dirt, a stone tower, and blood.

René clutched his head, groaning heavily. “Minerva. That’s the fourth one this week. Do you think it’s because we’re in a different place?”

They were definitely in a different place, alright. Far from Kalos, the two were currently in a small hotel in East Saffron. Fawkes had tipped René off about a fabled Pokémon living in Lavender Town that was most prominently found in late October. While it sounded like some sort of urban legend, René agreed; any excuse to go to Kanto was a good enough one for him. It was a lovely region, though not as nice as Kalos, granted. Though, Minerva didn’t seem to be reacting as well to the unfamiliar environment, as you may have picked up.

“These were happening before we came here. They started as soon as we started on the case, pretty much,” she explained, groaning as she heavily climbs out of bed. “I need a glass of water. C’mon, we’re getting up.”

René glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “Minerva, it’s four in the morning.”

“Then we’ll be early for breakfast. Get the hell up, René.”

Rolling his eyes, René sat up with a small grunt, climbing out of bed and making his way to the wardrobe. The room was quite clean, despite the fact that he chose one of the cheapest hotels in Saffron to stay under the radar. The furnishings were minimal, the décor reminds him of the 90s, but it was nice. “Okay,” he sighed, taking the dust protector out of the wardrobe and resting it on his bed, “So why do you think these nightmares are happening?” He asked, looking over to the bathroom as he unzipped the protector, taking out the crisp olive suit inside. Not normally his style, even ditching his overcoat, but Team Rocket knew his face; he needed to avoid any heat.

“Future Sight. It’s the only time I ever really feel nightmares that vividly,” Minerva explained, leaning over the sink to splash water over her face. “I don’t know where I am during the dreams but it’s always the same place: an old, stone room. There’s a set of steps behind me and I’m fighting this weird corpse thing. It has a Gengar and another Pokémon I can’t remember.”

“Yes, I remember you telling me about it,” he replied, buttoning up a white shirt. “I’m sure we’ll have answers when we get there.”

“We better,” she grumbled, looking in the mirror with strangely alert eyes. Her expression didn’t feel like her own; she looked unsettled. “Are you dressed yet?”

René looked at the bathroom doorway, scowling tiredly. “Minerva, I just got up. Give me five minutes,” he sighed. He hadn’t worn the suit before, but it fit well — well, the trousers did. The jacket was a little loose but barely so. “Take my wallet and buy some breakfast. I’ll be down in a minute.” Sitting down on the bed, he put on his brogues. Probably the only familiar piece of clothing he had on.

“Sure,” came a simple reply. Minerva left the bathroom, taking his wallet off the coffee table. After a short pause, she flickers, disappearing into nothing.

René frowned. She seemed very... slow. It was unusual for her, even with having just woke up. She’d been beaten half to death and woke up with more zest. Putting on a pair of horn rimmed glasses, a camera around his neck, and (begrudgingly) a brown trilby, René promptly opens the door to make his way downstairs.

By the time he was downstairs, Minerva was already sitting at one of the few coffee tables, with an empty plate on one side and two slices of toast on the other.

“You look like an idiot,” she remarked, smirking faintly.

He did, somewhat. Black hair wasn’t good for the look he was going for, but that was fine — if not better. When was the last time you saw a properly dressed tourist? “And you’re naked. I think I hold the upper hand,” René said, his telepathy lacking compared to his usual skill. Usually, he would happily speak to Minerva normally, but most people didn’t tend to talk to their Pokémon. The payment of anonymity was high. René sits down opposite her, taking a slice of toast and quietly beginning to eat.

“Okay, so what’s the plan? We go to Lavender Town, find the guy you talked about, do our job, get out?” Minerva asks, boredly patting the arms of her chair.

“Yes. Isa Toyoka, if the name seems familiar,” he answers, taking another bite.

“Not really.”

René sighs, coughing quietly. “Dr. Toyoka is one of the best parapsychologists of our time, and arguably the best in Kanto. I managed to schedule a meeting with him through a connection.”

“Huh. Aren’t we lucky,” Minerva remarks dryly, crossing her arms as she looks at his plate. “So…”

“A studier of paranormal and psychic… things. ESP, near-death experiences; that sort of thing.”

“Oh. So… Dr. _Baiseur-de-Fantômes_ is our source for Buried Alive?”

“You give a leading scientist a vulgar nickname but you call the urban—” René stops himself, quelling his look of disbelief and focusing on his breakfast — which Minerva takes no shame in staring at. He sighs. “Would you like some toast, Minerva?”

“ _Oui, s’il tu plait._ ”

“You can eat it on the way there. We’re walking.”

Minerva, pausing on her reach-over for the second piece of toast, stares up at René. “What?”

“We’re walking,” he repeats, finishing off his toast and rising to his feet. He brushes off his hands, looking at her with a raised brow. “It’s a scenic route.”

Minerva groans, slumping back in her chair. “It’s stupidly long! Why can’t I just teleport us there?”

“We don’t come to Kanto often; we may as well enjoy it while we’re here. Anyway, Mayoto said that psychic energy dispersed near the town can disturb the creature.”

“What, the one we’re gonna kill?” Minerva asks sardonically. “Why can’t we just teleport to as close as we can get without getting it angry or whatever?”

René doesn’t reply for a moment, resting a hand on the back of the chair. “Well… I don’t know. I’ll call Mayoto and ask. I can do that on the route; let’s move.” With that, he made his way to the front door, lazily beckoning Minerva as he opens it, stepping out into the crisp dawn air.

It’s still pitch black, but sunrise should be around six, so they’ve only got about an hour and a half. Yet, even with the world swathed in darkness, life resumes, with Saffron City’s streets still buzzing with life even this early in the morning. That’s Kanto: the region that never sleeps. To be fair, though, the same can be said for Sinnoh and Johto… and Kalos, sort of; great nightlife.

“So, how long will the walk be?” Minerva asks, stepping out onto the pavement.

“If the map was right, then just short of two hours.”

“We’re not going to walk that, are we?” She asks, looking at him in hammish worry.

“We’ll walk a little. Before sunrise, going in the tower is allegedly suicide and the town isn’t much better,” he explains, taking a left and walking down the road.

Minerva sighs, jogging briefly to keep up with him. “Okay, so we’re just going to walk until sunrise?”

René shrugs, looking at her with a sarcastic smirk. “Well, if you want to have a pile of ghosts on you…”

“Fuck it, sure. I’m not walking for two hours.”

“And risk annoying both the doctor and Buried Alive?”

“Yep. That’s fine. C’mon,” she replies impatiently, offering her hand.

René tuts, taking firm hold. “I might not have needed to wear this stupid disguise if I had known you’d be so reckless… what am I saying, of course you’re being reckless.”

“How long have we known each other, Renny?”


End file.
